Inkwell



y 3 L. H. JUSTER 2,002,092

INKWELL Filed Aug. 9, 1934 INVENTOR.

' ATTORN Y5.

Patented May 21, 19 35 ij mrgo STATES me oa;

Louis H. Juster, St. Lambert, Quebec, Canada, as-

signor to L. E. Waterman Company, NewXork,

N; Y., a corporation of New York 4 shown a selected embodiment. of the invention the. bottle removed;

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view through a device embodying theinvention; i

, Fig. '2 is a. top plan view of the device showing Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1 showing certain ofthe parts in a different position; a l v In- ,the illustratedembodiment, the. device com- 1 prises a suitable base I having therein a vertical- 1y extending bore 2 in which may be placed a bushing 3within which is. formed a chamber 4. The-baseis likewise provided with a suitable seat 5 for the neck of anink bottle 6 to support such a bottlein inverted position. The base is likewise cut out asindicated at I, to furnish room for i a plurality of tubes connecting the chamber 4 with the ink bottle 6. The bottle will, of course, be provided witha stopper 8 having therein a plurality of holes 9, ill, and H.- l

Inserted in thehole ll is a vent tube l2, which is preferably bent atits upper end to extend to a point adjacent the corner I3 of the bottle. As is well known, bottles areusually provided-at the bottom thereof with a convex surface l4, and by having the tube IZ- extend to a point adjacent the periphery of such convex portion, it is possible to more nearly fill the ink bottle before it isusedandstill the end of the vent tube l2 will be disposed in the air space present at the corner ;l3. Of course, as theink is used, the airspace will grow in volume. V

In theillustrated embodiment, I have shown the chamber 4 having communication with the reservoir formed by the ink bottle through three .tubes l5, l6, and I1 which are spaced apart vertically where they communicate with the cham ber. Each of these tubes is also received in one of the holes 9, l0, and II of thestopper 8, and the tube I5 is received in the hole H in which the vent tube I2 is also disposed. e

The top of the ink well chamber is provided witha dipping well l8 providing a shoulder. l9 against which seats a valve 20. -This valve is slidably mounted in the chamber 4 and hasa sliding fit with the walls thereof. As shown herein, it has a hollow, cylindrical stem 2| within .which is received a compression spring 23 bear- =-i ng against the bottom of the chamber and normally urgingz the valve 20 against its seat. l9.

The chamberwall is also provided with a shoulder 24 against which the bottom of the valve 20 maycontact and which limits the downward -movement of the valve. As shown in Fig. 3,

when thevalve is. in its lowermost position, the end of the tube IB- which communicates with the chamber isyuncovered. I

If desired, the top of the ,well may be closed by means of, a pivoted cover 25 which may be swung into and out ofposition wherein it covers the wellm l In operation, the entire assembly formed of the bushing 3-, stopper 8, a-ndtubes l2, l5, l6, and "I1, together with the dipping well l8, may be-treated as a unit. While they are normally received in the base, nevertheless they may be easily moved vertically out of the, base because of the various openings in the base in which they are received and which are all open at the top. After removal from the base, the'stopper may be inserted in an ink bottle and then the assembly may'be returnedgto its normalposition in the base, at which time the bottle will come *torest upon its seat 5.] a

The device is intended primarily for use for filling fountain-pens, and the nib of a pen 25 may be placed in the recess 21 of the valve and this valve forced downwardly to some such position asindicated in Fig. 3, wherethe end of the tube I6jis uncovered, it being understood that the parts, 20 and 2| have a sliding fit in the bushing 3 which willnevertheless permit ink to flow past them. Ink may then flow through the tube 16 into the chamber 4, and the pen may be filled and removed from the well, after which the spring 23 will raise the valve 20 to its seat' I9. During this operation, the vent tube [2 in conjunction with the tube ,l5 will permit air to chamber 4, as the valve moves upwardly.

Whenthe stopper with the tubes assembled with it'is first placed in the .bottle, of course a certain amount ofink will enter the tubes l 2 and Iii-and helpto fill the chamber 4, but after the device, has been used for a short time, the ink in the chamber must be replenished through the tubes l6 and I1.

By providing the two tubes 16 and H, a much quicker feed of ink to thechamber 4 is provided.

If, for example, the tube [6 were omitted, the downward movement of the valve under the pressure-of a pen nib thereon would require more pressure than might be desirable to place upon a pen nib. At the same time, the tube l6 may seen that as the ink above the valve 20 is sucked into a pen, more ink will readily flow into the chamber above the valve, through the tube I6 and possibly the tube l5.

As the valve rises from the position of Fig. 3

to that of Fig. 1, it will suck ink from the bottle into the chamber 4 beneath the valve, and. simultaneously any ink above the-valve-will pass into the tube 15, thus keeping the clipping well I8 clean and normally free of ink. Any ink that may at any time get into the 1 dippingwell will flow down into the chamber 4 upon the next downward movement of the valve. Normally,-

therefore, there is little chancefor the formation of sediment, either by dust getting into the ink, or by oxidation,-since under usual conditions the ink is not exposed to air and dust, and the dipping well is kept clean.

It is not uncommon in the prior art, when a bottle is subjected to relatively high temperatures, for the air to expand enough to force'the ink in the well upwardly to an undesirable amount, there even being danger that the ink will overflow from the well. This trouble is avoided by the arrangement which I have adopted. *If'ink should get into the dipping'well, a single depression of the valve normally will remove it. It is even possible to .add ink to the supply in the bottle by placing it in the chamber and/or dipping well and pumping it into the bottle by reciprocating the valve.

Another advantage of the arrangement shown is that the bottom tube IT, in addition to its function of aiding the tube l6, also insures a fresh supply of ink at the bottom of the chamber 4, thus preventing caking of ink at that location.

While I have named above'some of the advantages of my invention, still other advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art. While I have shown the invention as embodied in a specific form, it is to be understood that various changes in details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, and I therefore do not intend to limit myself except by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, an ink well having a vertically extending chamber, a plurality of tubes communicating with said chamber at vertically spaced apart points, an ink reservoir normally having an air space adjacent the top thereof, all of said tubes communicating with said reservoir and the uppermost oneof said tubes communicating only with said air space therein, and

a valve vertically movable in said chamber and adapted in its lowermost position to uncover one of the other tubes. 7

2. In combination, an ink well having a vertically extending chamber, a plurality of tubes communicating with said chamber at vertically spaced apart points, an ink reservoir normally having an air space adjacent the top thereof, all of said tubes communicating with said reservoir and the uppermost one of said tubes communicating only with said air space therein, and a valve vertically movable in said chamber and adapted in its uppermost position to close said uppermost tube and adapted in its lowermost position to uncover one of the other tubes.

3. In combination, an ink well having a vertically extending chamber, a plurality of tubes communicating with said chamber at vertically spaced apart points, an ink reservoir normally having an air space adjacent the top thereof, all of said tubes communicating with said reservoir and the uppermost one of said tubes communicating only with said air space therein, a valve vertically movable in said chamber and adapted in its lowermost position to uncover one of the other tubes, and a spring urging said valve towards its uppermost position.

4. In combination, an ink well having a vertically extending chamber, a plurality of tubes communicating with said chamber at vertically spaced apart points, an ink reservoir normally having an air space adjacent the top thereof, all of said tubes communicating with said reservoir and the uppermost one of said tubes communicating only with said air space therein, a valve vertically movable in said chamber and adapted in its uppermost position to close said uppermost tube and adapted in its lowermost position to uncover one of the other tubes, and

a spring urging said valve position.

5. In combination, an ink well having a vertically extending chamber, a plurality of tubes communicating with said chamber at vertically spaced apart points, an ink reservoir normally having an air space adjacent the top thereof, all of said tubes communicating'with said reservoir and one of said tubes communicating only with said air space therein, and a valve vertically movable in said chamber and adapted in its lowermost position to uncover one of the other tubes.

6. In combination, an ink well having a vertically extending chamber, a plurality of tubes communicating with said chamber at vertically spaced apart points, an ink reservoir normally having an air space adjacent the top thereof, all of said tubes communicating with said reservoir and one of said tubes communicating only with said air space therein, and a valve vertically mov able in-said chamber and adapted in its uppermost position to close said uppermost tube and adapted in its lowermost position to uncover one of the other tubes.

'7. In combination, an ink well having a vertically extending chamber, three tubes communicating with said chamber at vertically spaced apart points, an ink reservoir normally having an air space adjacent the top thereof, the uppermost one of said tubes communicating with said air space'in the reservoir and the others with the ink space therein, a valve'vertically movable in towards its uppermost said chamber and adapted in its lowermost posi- 'municating with the interior of said bottle, a

Valve movable in said chamber and in its uppermost position covering the uppermost one of said tubes, and a vent tube forming anextension of the uppermost one of said tubes and extending into the air space adjacent the top of said inverted bottle.

having their ends inserted in holesin said stopper and their other ends communicatingv with said in well and secured thereto, a. base having a. vertically extending bore into which saidink well maybe set and likewise having a cut-out portion to receive the tubes connected to the ink well, and a, seat on the base adapted to receive the neck of said bottle when the stopper is placed therein and when said tube ends are in said holes in the stopper. 7

LOUIS H. JUSTER. 

